Posted On: 05/07/2015
By: Dale Roberts
In the current era of social media and none-stop advertising there’s a never-ending desire to appear to be perfect, in all areas of life.
If it’s not the recent Protein World “scandal” – a recent billboard campaign featuring a bikini clad model and the slogan “Are you beach body ready?” caused controversy all over the UK for its perceived body shaming connotations – then it’s our social media “friends” and family, bragging that their lives are perfect, to strangers on the internet. In reality, no one has a perfect life. I’m guilty of it myself; I can’t take an Instagram picture without finding the perfect filter, editing the warmth, saturation and shadows to make it drastically better than the original image. We’re all borderline obsessed with making our life appear better than it is and convince others than we’re doing better than they are. It’s taking ‘keeping up with the Jones’ (or is it the Kardashians these days?) to the extreme.
This isn’t necessarily wrong; why shouldn’t we strive to be fitter and healthier? When it comes to our family why can’t we view them as perfect and be proud to show them off? Maybe you’ve landed the dream job or got the dream holiday, why not show it off? You’ve earnt it! Its good to strive for the sky, but let’s consider a different look at things; we’re all just human. Our lives simply don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to aim for these ridiculous standards just so we have a beautiful life and appearance – happiness isn’t solely defined by beauty.
I’m a huge Beatles fan and I count it as one of the biggest blessings imagineable to live in Liverpool; the birthplace and home of not only the Beatles, but also the greatest music city on the planet. Why I bring the Beatles up is this – 1. I’m a Scouser, I’m contractually obliged to. 2. They are undisputedly the best band ever to grace the planet, but what made them the best was their imperfection. John Lennon was a troubled lad who had awful upbringing. By his own admission he wasn’t the best musician; he knew basic guitar piano chords and couldn’t read music. His vocals would never have gotten him through to the next round on X factor and his attitude was aggressive and abrasive. Despite this, his music spoke to millions of people around the world and it spoke of beauty. Why? His imperfection was his art!
Other examples include Bob Dylan who has one of the worst voices ever – but his music inspired movements. Elvis was told from an early age he had no business singing because he wasn’t good enough. Stephen Hawkins can’t feed himself but he is considered one of the greatest modern thinkers. Arnold Schwarzenegger was told he wouldn’t make it outside of bodybuilding because of his imperfect accent. Oprah Winfrey was sacked from Baltimore’s WJZ-TV for being “too emotionally involved.” Their imperfections are their strengths.
Here’s my point – You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to have everything worked out and not everyone has to like you – You are human, your imperfections can be your art and your art is your beauty. Nobody is perfect, and nobody has to be.
XOXO
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